HEALTHY LIVING: Belly fat/heart disease combo is dangerous

By Lyden Odukwu, M. D.PAID ADVERTISING CONTENT

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, May 15, 2011

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HEALTHY LIVING: Belly fat/heart disease combo is dangerous

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Even more important than the amount of fat someone carries, the location of that weight is a factor in the risk of a deadly heart attack for someone who has heart disease. A recent study showed that belly fat carries the same amount of risk as smoking a pack of cigarettes per day or having very high cholesterol. If the fat is concentrated elsewhere, the risk of a deadly heart attack is cut in half.

Previous studies had seemed to show that increased body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) was linked to a better chance of survival than that of normal people. Dr. Thais Coutinho, the study’s lead author and a cardiology fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, stated that she and her team of researchers discounted the earlier BMI studies.

Coutinho stated that BMI is not a good measure of body fat, and that it tells nothing about how the fat is distributed. She and her cohorts examined data from five studies conducted around the world, among almost 16,000 people with both coronary artery disease and central obesity.

Belly fat is known to be more metabolically active, said Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, the study’s lead investigator and director of the May Clinic’s Cardiometabolic Program. Belly fat has more effect on cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. Fat in other places on the body does not seem to create these effects.

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Central obesity is determined by hip-to-waist ratio and waist circumference. Assessing this in a physician’s office is simple, Coutinho pointed out—it simply involves a tape measure around the waist.